Say aaahhh!

I have not been birding for quite a while. My son, Kurt, is here visiting from the United States. Since this is the first time in 23 years that he will be seeing the country where he was born, I've been busy showing him around. And as any self-respecting birder knows, the longer you don't go birding, the stronger the itch becomes.


When fellow bird photographer, Bong, informed me that he and another colleague, Ely, will be at the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman on Tuesday morning, I got excited. It so happened that I had a couple of hours to spare that morning before I return to my paternal duties, so off I went.


My first destination was the area in front of the Marine Science Institute (MSI) building. This is the haunt of the Blue Rock Thrush. And sure enough, as soon as I had my gears ready, it  flew to its favorite acacia tree. It wasn't long when Ely arrived and joined me. We both discovered that Blue Rock Thrushes (or at least this one that we're looking at) also eat fruits! It would swallow whole the red berry-like fruit of a palm tree and after a few moments regurgitate the seeds out. Very interesting since I thought all along that these species are insectivores.

The Blue Rock Thrush saying "aaahhh"

Ely and I were photographing the thrush's antics when he got a call from Bong. Bong informed us that he saw the now famous juvenile Philippine Serpent Eagle near the Vargas Museum not far from where Ely and I were.


Perched on a tree not far from the museum building, indeed, was the Serpent Eagle. Unmindful of the three birdnuts (which were later augmented by some curious students) taking its picture from different angles, the raptor just stayed there seemingly to the point of utter ennui.

Philippine Serpent Eagle saying "aaahhh"

Two hours went swiftly by and I bade my comrades adieu. I was smiling as I drove home, thinking, what do you say when your itch had been scratched? You say, "aaahhh!"

Tus' Company

Saturday, seven o'clock in the morning, Cynthia and I were at the parking lot next to the Biology building of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. We were for two reasons: First, to locate the Philippine Nightjar that had been roosting here lately and second, to meet up with my high school classmate and now Biology professor, Augustus (Tus) Mamaril.


We got the nightjar quite easily, thanks to the advice of another U.P. professor, Jerry de Villa, and the help of Mang Donato, one of the building's janitors. I was already busy taking pictures of the Philippine endemic when Tus came. I asked him to tarry a while as I promised fellow bird photographer, Bong, that I'll wait for him and show him where the Nightjar was. That was my way of paying him back for the favor he did for me last week when he waited for me so that I can take photos of the Pink-necked Green Pigeon also here at U.P.

Pretty soon, Bong drove in and I immediately showed him the snoozing night bird. Having done my duty, Cynthia and I asked Tus to join us for breakfast so we could reminisce the good ol' days. Inasmuch as I was a "nobody" (The song "Mr. Cellophane" from the broadway play "Chicago" would be a very apt description of me) during high school, I am quite amazed and even flattered that our valedictorian would remember a lot of things about me. Pleasant moments always fly swiftly by when spent with pleasant company, and so we were surprised to realize that it was already 11 am and Tus had to fulfill some professional obligations. On our way back to the parking lot, we saw a group of bird photographers lined up by the road. They were my birding buddies, Bong, Jun, DocMando, Rey and Val. When queried why they were so seemingly excited, they all pointed to a tree about a hundred meters away and said, "Philippine Serpent Eagle".


We took Tus back to his car and bade him goodbye with the promise to meet again, and rushed back to the where the boys were. We all had a grand time photographing the endemic raptor until it eventually flew off to somewhere we were no longer had the inclination to follow.

It was one of those weekend mornings that everything seemed to fall into place. We got the nightjar which was the bird we came to see and even got a bonus with the serpent eagle. And of course, a wonderful time in the company of friends both old and new.

The Eagle has Landed

The campus of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City had become renowned for producing unusual birds every so often. In October of last year, a pair of Java Sparrows decided to start a family near the library and became an instant sensation. That was followed in November by a Blue Rock Thrush that had everybody (including myself during a visit to the Philippines) going ga-ga. December, it was the Philippine Scops Owl. And on and on it went. Recently it was the Brush Cuckoo(s)? that drew bird photographers from all over MetroManila to U.P. Just as the cuckoo's popularity started waning, a new star was born!

Welcome the juvenile Philippine Serpent Eagle.

The morning of Sept. 13th, I received a text message from fellow birdnut Bert Madrigal saying that he, Propjerry, Doc Mando and Alain, were looking at a Philippine Serpent Eagle at the "lagoon" (actually a small patch of forest) in front of the Engineering Library. It was close to noon so I texted him back saying I'll be there after lunch.

One-thirty in the afternoon. My wife and I were already having neck pains resulting from scanning each and every branch of each and every tree in the lagoon. And not finding the eagle. Despite the help and encouragements from the two security guards manning the area, we broken-heartedly left U.P. after two hours.

That night eye-popping pictures of the Serpent Eagle were posted in the Philippine Bird Photography Forum. I resolved to go back and try again. Looking at my schedule for the coming days, however, sank any hope that I had been harboring. Tuesday, I need to take my wife to her appointment at her former office. Wednesday morning, we would be visiting a friend's house in Antipolo where he said there were some birds in their backyard. Thursday we are banned from the main streets from 7 am to 10 am. (This was a local ordinance passed to ease the traffic in MetroManila at peak hours and was based on the last number of the license plate). So it will be only on Friday that I will be able to return to U.P. That seemed like a long wait. *sigh*

Tuesday night Cynthia called our friend in Antipolo to confirm our planned visit the next morning. He apologized profusely explaining that something came up and that they will not be home to entertain us. My wife then told me that now we can go to U.P. on Wednesday morning.

Six-thirty in the morning, we were craning our necks scanning each and every branch of each and every tree in the lagoon. The guard on duty that morning, bless his soul, suggested we look at the balete tree near the bamboo grove. That's where the young eagle usually hunts for food in the morning he explained. Sloshing through the muddy field, I espied what I initially thought was a chicken searching for food among the dewy grass. But it seemed quite big for a chicken. I looked through my camera lens and couldn't believe my eyes. "There it is!" "There it is!" I yelled as I slowly moved towards the raptor. (If you read my blogs regularly, you'd notice that I have yelled those exact same words everytime I spotted our target bird. I firmly believe that it's hard to be verbally creative in situations like those).

Pardon the disgression. As I was saying, I moved furtively next to the clump of bamboo. Inasmuch as I was only using my 300mm lens with a 1.4 extender, I needed to get as close as I can without spooking my quarry. Holding my breath I fired off a burst of shots hoping that despite the distance and the not so conducive light, I would be lucky enough to get a few good ones. As I exhaled slowly, the bird flew. It flew and I had no idea where it went.

The effect of adrenaline rush oozed out my trembling body. I was relating the story to my wife (she stayed behind when I saw the eagle on the ground) when birders Rhea and Boboy joined us and asked the expected, "Have you seen it?" I animatedly told them of my short-lived encounter with the Philippine Serpent Eagle. I was waving my arm to show them the general area where I thought the eagle went when I saw the shadow of a huge flying bird. We all ran towards that direction. This time it was Rhea who saw it perched high among the branches of a tall acacia tree. Rhea, who also had a camera, and I assumed a stalking posture and like a pack of wolves intent on capturing their prey we inched closer and closer to the tree. Every now and then we would peer through our cameras to see if the bird was now within photographic range. Silently we were joined by Doc Chito, another birdnut, as we gestured and pointed the eagle to him. Then it flew!

To our surprise it flew closer and in a more open area. We couldn't believe our luck as we started shooting away. I don't know, but this had happened to me a number of times already - when the object of my photography felt that it had given me enough opportunity to take its picture from all possible angles, then it would simply fly away, as if to say, "that's all folks!"

To which I always replied, "thank you!"

Palay-palay Away

My cellphone beeped. It was Friday evening. The text message was short: "We're good to go". In my mind I debated whether to bring my long lens and tripod or my walk-about 100-400 zoom. I chose the latter. I didn't sleep well that night - excited that I will be going birding with my buddies. Our destination: Mt. Palay-palay in Cavite.

3:30 am and I was wide awake. I got dressed, prepared my gear and waited. About an hour later I heard a van approaching. It stopped in front of our gate and out jumped fellow birder-photographer Bert Madrigal. After the warm greetings I bade goodbye to my wife, who opted to stay behind. Already inside the van were two more friends, Neon Rosell and Alain del Pascua. And then we were off.

Mt. Palay-palay is not that far from Manila and is a favorite among bird-watchers (and bird photographers) because of its diverse avian population. Dawn had already broken as we slowly drove up the mountain road. Bert stopped the van by the roadside to buy some foodstuff. We took this opportunity to assemble our gears. "Elegant Tit!", Neon announced. My ears perked. "Where?", I asked. "I can hear it", he said. Then, "there, on that tree!" I looked. I saw. I was happy. I got a lifer!

We moved on. "Coucal!" It was Neon again. Bert slammed on the brakes, reversed and stopped. We all crept towards the Philippine Coucal perched on a dead branch just off the road. However, the large bird can only be photographed from one vantage point. A small patch surrounded by grass as tall as us bordered by a deep ravine. We took turns taking pictures of the coucal until our shoes and our pants from the knees down were soaked from the morning dew.

Further up the road as we rounded a turn we came upon a tree where about half a dozen Glossy Starlings were perched near the tree top. Below was a pair of Whiskered Treeswifts hawking for insects. But they were too far off to be photographed so we just moved on.

It wasn't long before Neon again shouted, "Coucal!" This time Bert slowly eased the van to a quiet stop. As we stepped out of the van our eyes and cameras were treated to a display of an insouciant bird basking in the morning sun. This time we had our fill.

We continued up the mountain road. Another turn and Bert once again braked suddenly. A Crested Serpent Eagle was perched at eye level! Being the one closest to the raptor I was able to fire off a couple of shots before it flew away. And before Bert, Neon and Alain could even lift up their cameras. That was my 2nd lifer!

By midmorning the birds became a bit sparse. Except for a few Brahminy Kites soaring overhead and some Philippine Falconets and White-breasted Wood Swallows perched on electrical wires. At the end of the road and the entrance to the pricey Caylabne Resort, we were all startled to see a white-morph coucal fly across the street. We spent almost an hour stalking the uncommon coucal and failing miserably. We tried imitating its call to lure it out. That didn't work. We surrounded the area where we saw it land and tried to flush it. That didn't work either. We finally gave up.

On the return trip we once again stopped at the place where we saw the starlings and the treeswifts before. To our delight, the treeswifts (at least one of them) was now perched closer to the road. All four us pointed our cameras at the lovely bird and were shooting to our hearts content. Then it rained. We barely made it inside the van when a torrential downpour was dumped from the skies.

Thus endeth our morning foray at Mt Palay-palay.

For other birding blogs and photos please visit: